Dong Zhongshu
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Dong Zhongshu (C. 179–C. 104 BCE)
Dong Zhongshu, probably the most influential Confucian scholar of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), laid an institutional basis for the Confucian orthodoxy and for the recruitment of able scholars as government officials through the examination system. He was an expert in the Gongyang commentary of the Confucian classic Spring and Autumn, and he gave the classic a new interpretation that combines the ethical and political teachings of Confucius with the supernatural view of the metaphysicians. After having received the degree of eruditus (boshi ) in the Confucian classics, Dong Zhongshu became a public instructor during the reign (156–140 BCE) of Emperor Jing. It has been recorded that he lectured from behind a curtain, and although he had many students, few were admitted to his presence. He was also said to have been so engrossed in his scholarly pursuits that for three years he did not even once visit his garden. As a result of his responses to the written inquiries addressed to the scholars of the realm by Emperor Wu (reigned 140–87 BCE), Dong Zhongshu attracted imperial notice and was appointed minister successively to two royal princes. However, he was not successful in his political career and spent the remaining years of his life in teaching and writing. In addition to his several memorials to the throne, he is known for his work on the Spring and Autumn, titled Chunqiu Fanlu (Copious Dew in Spring and Autumn), a curious admixture of moral and metaphysical essays in seventeen chapters. He had numerous followers and his influence lasted well beyond his lifetime. Dong Zhongshu's main contribution as a Confucian philosopher lies in his study of the Spring and Autumn, which, according to him, teaches "compliance with Heaven's will and imitation of the ancients." To do so is "for the people to follow the sovereign, and for the sovereign to follow Heaven." Thus, the basic principle in government is to subject the people to the sovereign's domination, and the sovereign to Heaven's will. In Dong's concept, Heaven (Tian ) is not the all-mighty anthropomorphic god of the ancient Chinese but the physical universe itself. Somewhat akin to the Western concept of nature, it is nevertheless endowed with intellect and purpose. The ruler, as Heaven's representative on earth, should administer his kingdom in accordance with Heaven's will. As Heaven is inherently good and benevolent, so should the sovereign be. His virtuous rule will be marked by order and harmony in the universe. On the other hand, any evil act of his will cause catastrophes (such as floods and fires, earthquakes and mountain slides) and anomalies (such as comets, eclipses, and the growing of beards on women) sent by Heaven as a warning to men. "The origin of catastrophes and anomalies," he wrote in "Copious Dew," "is traceable to misrule in the state. First, Heaven sends catastrophes to admonish the people. When this goes unheeded and no changes are made, Heaven would then frighten the people with prodigies. If men are still unawed, ruin and destruction will finally befall the empire." Although he was an avowed monarchist, Dong Zhongshu's strange science of the catastrophes and anomalies had the effect of curbing misgovernment on the part of the ruler. The idea has so embedded itself in the minds of the Chinese people that even in more enlightened and rational times, Confucian scholar-officials found Dong's concept useful as a means of remonstrance against the ruler's misuse of despotic power. But Dong Zhongshu is remembered today chiefly for his historical role in exalting Confucianism as China's official state doctrine, which was to mold the nation for more than two thousand years from the Han dynasty to the present age. See also Chinese Philosophy; Confucius; Ethics and Morality. Bibliography Chan, Wing-tsit. A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963. Fung Yu-lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy. Translated by Derk Bodde, Vol. 2. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1953. Gassmann, Robert H. Tung Chung-shu Ch'un-Ch'iu Fan Lu: Üppiger Tau des Frühling-und-Herbst-Klassikers. Frankfurt: Verlag Peter Lang, 1988. Tain, Tzey-yueh. "Tung Chung-shu's System of Thought: Its Sources and Its Influence on Han Scholars." Ph.D. diss., University of California, 1974.
Persons in Chinese History - Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒
Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒 (179-104 BCE) was a Former Han period (202 BCE-8 AD) philosopher and writer. He came from Guangchuan 廣川 (modern Jingxian 景縣, Hebei) and became a professor (boshi 博士 "erudite") for the New-Text Gongyang Commentary 公羊傳 of the Confucian Classic Chunqiu 春秋, the "Spring and Autumn Annals". His philosophical interpretations were highly appreciated by Emperor Wu 漢武帝 (r. 141-87) and he was nominated a "worthy and proficient scholar" (xianliang zhi shi 賢良之士). In his later years he was appointed counsellor (xiang 相) of the Princes of Jiangdu 江都 and Jiaoxi 膠西. Following his philosophical interpretation of the connection between rulership and the will of Heaven, he criticized Emperor Wu's politics in a time when natural disasters befell China. He was therefore put into jail but soon released. After retirement he dedicated himself to the further study of literature, but he was nevertheless often consulted in important political matters. Dong Zhongshu's philosophical interpretations of the Confucian Classics just met the needs of the Emperors Jing 漢景帝 (r. 157-141) and Wu who both tried to concentrate political power in their hands and to deprive the princes of their political significance. The Confucians were, in the words of Dong Zhongshu, the sole philosophers that were able to provide a philosophical base for this kind of politics. Emperor Wu therefore "only venerated the Confucians and expelled all other philosophical schools" (du zun ru shu, ba chu bai jia 獨尊儒術，罷黜百家), at least in the political sphere. Dong Zhongshu created a solid merger of the Confucian view of society and the structure of an empire with the widespread theory of Yin and Yang and the Five Processes that was very prevalent during the Han period. Daoist and legalist influences are also to be seen in his thought. Any change or process in the world reflected a change in Heaven's stance towards the ruler (tian ren gan ying 天人感應 "mutual correspondence between Heaven and man"). In this shape, Dong Zhongshu united the theory of Heaven as the guardian of rulership as brought forward by the philosopher Mengzi 孟子 with the popular belief that the change of worldy things was related to a change or imbalance in the world of metaphysics. The ruler had to perform the will of Heaven in order to preserve the Heavenly Mandate (tianming 天命) bestowed upon him. Yet this was not only valid for a ruler, but actually for all persons. Heaven has, he said, created man, and man's human nature is rooted in Heaven. The human body is a reflection of Heaven's measures, breath and blood are transformations of Heaven's will and humankindness, virtuous human behaviour is a reflection of the Heavenly order of appropriate behaviour, human good and bad are results of the warmth and pureness of Heaven, man's joy and anger accord to Heaven's cold and warm phenomena. Like Heaven produces the four seasons, a ruler has four instruments of policy, namely benevolence, reward, punishment and penalty. The Confucian society is even extended to a paternal-filial relation between Heaven and the emperor, in which the latter is the Son of Heaven (tianzi 天子). Like a father answers filiality with benevolence, a ruler obeys Heaven, fulfills its will (tianzhi 天志) and intentions (tianyi 天意), and is rewarded with bless, while he himself is benevolent towards his people. Like a son is allowed to rebel against a cruel father, the people has the right to rebel against a tyrant. Heaven, as the highest father of all, warns a ruler who walks on the wrong path and sends down strange signs and natural disasters. The phenomena of Yin and Yang are transposed on the Confucian view of society. Heaven is Yang, the earth is Yin. Yang, as virtue, provides, while Yin, the penal element, deprives. In the Confucian world of dualities of upper and lower, the superior position (ruler, father, man) corresponds to Yang, while the inferior position (subject, son, woman) is a Yin position. The superior person in these three relationships (sangang 三綱) is always the guideline (gang 綱) for the lower person. There are five constancies (wuchang 五常) by which the relationships between superior and inferior persons can be stabilized, namely kindheartedness (ren 仁), appropriateness (yi 義), etiquette (li 禮), wisdom (zhi 智) and trust (xin 信). A ruler has to make use of exemplariously virtuous behaviour (de 德) in first place, which can, but has not to be supported by punishment (xing 刑). With the help of his own behaviour a good ruler will be able to educate (jiaohu 教化) his people. Like all animals, man comes from Heaven and has a good nature (shan zhi 善質) endowed by Heaven, but unlike animals, man can be educated and learn to practise the five constancies and the three relationships. He is thus the only being able to follow the Heavenly path (tiandao 天道). There are, of course, character (xing 性) differences between holies (shengren 聖人) and the most stupid men (xiayu 下愚). The decisive difference is the control of affects (qing 情) which are - as far as possible - not to be express outwards. The character, always naturally inclining to the good, has to control the affects. Dong Zhongshu even brought forward practical advice for government and suggested a grain tax of ten per cent and a corvée labour of no more than three days a year. The most important book written by Dong Zhongshu is the Chunqiu fanlu 春秋繁露. In this book he explains how historical events were related to a cosmologial background. Another short writing by him is the Ju xianliang duice 舉賢良對策 "Answer to my elevation to a worthy and proficient scholar". In this declaration he explains that no philosophy whatever can go without Confucianism, and all moral virtues and thoughts are related to the Confucian way. Dong Zhongshu has also written some rhapsodies, the most famous of which is the Shi bu yu fu 士不遇賦. The writings of Dong Zhongshu have been collected by the Ming period scholar Zhang Fu 張溥 with the title of Dong Jiaoxi ji 董膠西集. It is included in the collectanea Han Wei Liuchao baisanjia ji 漢魏六朝百三家集. Sources: Chen Zhefu 陳哲夫 (1992), "Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhengzhixue 政治學 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), p. 65. ● Fei Chengang 費振剛 (1986), "Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒", in Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhongguo wenxue 中國文學 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 1, p. 121. ● Zhang Shancheng 張善城, Jin Chunfeng 金春峰 (1987), "Dong Zhongshu 董仲舒", in: Zhongguo da baike quanshu 中國大百科全書, Zhexue 哲學 (Beijing/Shanghai: Zhongguo da baike quanshu chubanshe), Vol. 1, p. 166.
DONG ZHONGSHU
Russell Kirkland, "Tung Chung-shu." Copyright: Ian P. McGreal, ed., Great Thinkers of the Eastern World (New York: HarperCollins, 1995), 67-70. Used by permission. Born: ca. 195 BCE, Guangchuan, China Died: ca. 115 BCE, Guangchuan, China Major Work: Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals (by 115 BCE ?) Major Ideas Human life and institutions are subject to universal laws instituted by Heaven. All phenomena are intricately and dynamically interrelated. Heaven expressly created humanity to extend and maintain order in the world. Heaven holds the ruler responsible for the world's status. Regular and irregular natural events contain symbolic politico-cosmic meaning. Dong Zhongshu (Tung Chung-shu) was responsible for establishing Confucianism as the theoretical foundation of the inchoate imperial state during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 221 CE). Dong attempted to achieve a coherent system of thought that would provide a rational explanation for the entirety of human experience. Some argue that he was noteworthy more for his effect upon Chinese history than for the profundity of his thought. But such criticisms seem to slight Dong's humanistic trajectory: to him, explaining life really meant explaining human history, and explaining the world really meant explaining how human life should be organized in order to be properly grounded in the fundamental nature of things. In another sense, Dong can be interpreted as a religious theorist, whose speculative thought was informed by certain scriptural notions. The Background of Dong Zhongshu's Thought Most classical Chinese thinkers had vaguely agreed that Heaven (Tian) instituted the world, and that it plays some role in human life as well as in the world's ongoing processes. But none of those thinkers articulated any systematic theology: for them, a few basic principles sufficed, primarily as justification of other principles that they considered more pertinent. Dong was, in a sense, working in the other direction: e.g., rather than adduce Heaven to support a specific view of human nature, he adduced a specific view of human nature in order to explicate the way in which Heaven had instituted life. Dong's thought ultimately reverted to a teleological philosophy of history. Those who assess him as a speculative philosopher are sometimes nonplussed by Dong's apparent obsession with history and government. In actuality, it is not difficult to understand his thought when one appreciates the context in which he lived. In 221 BCE, the state of Qin, organized according to the totalitarian principles of Legalism, had exterminated its competition and instituted a ruthless new centralized state. In 206 BCE, the Qin was overthrown, but meanwhile the Chinese had seen their civilization ransacked. Rulers of the subsequent Han period struggled to understand what had happened, and why. The collapse of the Qin offered a clear moral and historical lesson: there is justice in the world. But if so, why had the ruthless Qin come to power in the first place? The Han emperor Wudi was troubled by these questions, and solicited explanations. In three undatable memorials, Dong Zhongshu offered his views. Fuller and somewhat divergent versions of Dong's thought appear in his principal work, the Chunqiu fanlu ("Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals"). However, not only is that text undatable, but modern scholarship has determined that much of it is the work of later hands. Dong's ultimate goal was to discover universal causative principles that would both explain the past and provide a sound foundation for the future, particularly in the socio-political sphere. But unlike thinkers who seek such principles beginning from abstract a prioris, Dong (like earlier and later Confucians alike) looked instead to his cultural inheritance. He discovered fundamental principles for a complete explanation of life within a text known as the Chunqiu ("The Spring and Autumn Annals"), generally considered the work of Confucius himself. Some might think it odd that a philosopher should claim to find an explanation of all reality in a text like the Chunqiu, which is (at least to the casual observer) merely a laconic chronicle of political events in the long-defunct state of Lu. But at least some Han Confucians saw in the Chunqiu the answers to their most pressing questions: it not only had the unimpeachable authority of Confucius himself, but it also provided an idea that suited their most crucial needs, i.e., the idea that Heaven is at work in worldly events, mandating certain outcomes in the course of human affairs. Dong concluded that by meticulous analysis of the Chunqiu, one could discern the precise patterns of Heaven's subtle workings, thereby learning how all of life could be brought into alignment with the divine plan. Such concepts seem analogous to the thought of certain Western religious theorists who see God's plan encoded in the text of the Bible. But in fact, Dong's thinking was little different from that of Chinese of Han and later times who saw the keys to Heaven's subtle workings in the Yijing, the ancient divination text. Dong was actually following a more typically Confucian path by focussing upon history, in fact upon the historiographic activities of Confucius himself. Dong Zhongshu's System of Thought Dong's vision of the world began with ideas inherited from classical thinkers, such as the Confucian Xunzi (Hsün-tzu). The activity of "Heaven and Earth" is perfected by Humanity's civilizing activity: Heaven gives birth to things and instills people with moral inclinations (as the classical Confucian Mencius had argued); Earth nourishes things and provides for their material needs; and Humanity completes or perfects all things by maintaining proper patterning (i.e., through rites and music). Such patterning is not the product of human invention, but Heaven's own design. Here Dong goes beyond Xunzi : Dong explains and justifies Heaven's patterning through ideas drawn from natural philosophers like Zou Yan, who had explained the world in terms of (1) yin and yang -- two basic aspects of reality within the phenomenal world, seen in all pairs of complementary opposites; and (2) the "Five Forces" (wu xing), cosmic forces metaphorically identified with fire, water, earth, wood, and metal. Dong Zhongshu is generally remembered as the author of a detailed system of correspondences in which everything was correlated to one of the five fundamental forces, so that everything could be shown to be interrelated in an orderly and comprehensible manner. But in his memorials, Dong never actually mentions the Five Forces. Moreover, his system of correspondences remains quite rudimentary; in reality, the elaborate system usually associated with his name was only fully developed in later Han thought. Dong's own real concern was to demonstrate how Humanity's activities might be integrated with the designs of Heaven. To him, the world is not a field of self-contained natural processes, but rather (1) a field in which human life is of central importance, and (2) a field in which Heaven acts; hence "yang is Heaven's beneficent power, while the yin is Heaven's chastising power." Dong's immediate concern was with Humanity, which (like all Confucians) he considers nobler than other creatures, for two reasons: (1) only humans display the consciousness and will that we see in Heaven's workings, and (2) only humans interact in terms of "benevolence" (ren), "correctness" (yi), and "wisdom" (zhih) -- the fundamental moral principles articulated by his Confucian predecessors. Though he clearly went beyond those predecessors in his concern with universal processes, Dong placed himself squarely within their tradition by insisting that Humanity "possessed clearly marked patterns for...social interaction," and that those patterns are ethical in nature. He also engaged in the Mencius/Xunzi debate over human nature: he agreed with Mencius that we have inherent moral tendencies, but explained them in terms of a theistic teleology: "Heaven, when it constituted human nature, commanded him to practice benevolence and righteousness...." Dong also departed from Mencius' rosy view of human nature: "Mencius evaluates it in comparison with the doings of birds and beasts below, and therefore says that the nature itself is good. I evaluate it in comparison with the doings of the sages above, and therefore I say that the nature is not good." Hence, like Xunzi, Dong considers the legacy of the sages essential for completing ourselves. It is within the activity of the sages (including Confucius' composition of the Chunqiu) that Heaven guides us in carrying out its mandate to bring order to the world. The contention that humans are not wholly good in themselves also serves to justify the institution of kingship: the ruler "gives instruction that gives completion to (people's) nature." The king models himself on Heaven by aligning his actions with the natural processes that Heaven has instituted, such as the four seasons. But history shows that each of the three great dynasties (Xia, Shang, Zhou) had reconfigured certain of its predecessor's patterns, to demonstrate that the "mandate of Heaven" had been transferred to a new ruling house. From that fact, Dong concluded that Heaven had actually established not a single invariable pattern, but rather a changing sequence of three sets of patterns. Accordingly, each current ruler must be alert to possible deviations from Heaven's constantly shifting pattern, as intimated by irregular natural events (a concept attested in an edict of early Han times). Here Dong integrates political principles with the idea of a dynamically correlative cosmos, in which actions on the level of Humanity (whether proper or improper) stimulate responses on other levels. He sometimes suggests that such responses occur when humanity disrupts the "ethers" (qi/ ch'i) of yin and yang. But such "mechanistic" interpretations seem at odds with the more theistic argument that Heaven takes deliberate action to alter the course of human events by warning rulers when they deviate and by transferring the mandate to a new house when appropriate. Dong Zhongshu's Place in Chinese Intellectual History Though Dong's thought seems at first rather far removed from that of Confucius, he was, in the final analysis, truly Confucian: his thought was largely an extension of that of Xunzi and Mencius, qualified mainly by his reading of the Chunqiu. The overriding issue of his day was to discover universal processes underlying human history, and Xunzi and Mencius had never gone so far. So to make sense of the Chunqiu he expanded his field to make use of ideas from classical thinkers like Zou Yan and Mozi (Mo-tzu), as well as from contemporary sources like the Yijing interpreters, and the just-completed Huainanzi (another attempt to explain all of life, along generally Taoist lines). It is notable that Dong shows little trace of the thought of Taoists like Laozi, probably because earlier Han rulers had adopted certain of Laozi's political principles. It is here that we see the motivation behind Dong's promotion of "Confucianism." When Dong persuaded Han Wudi to establish an academy with a "Confucian" curriculum, it was not from sectarian motives. Dong certainly did not reject ideas of non-Confucian provenance: many had great explanatory value. But he was concerned that the authority of the ruler should be solidly grounded in the authority of Heaven, which was codified in the classics that the Confucians had always treasured and promoted. Dong was thus not really concerned to formulate a philosophical "orthodoxy" to which other thinkers had to conform, nor to establish a new "state creed." His goal was essentially the same as Mencius' had been, i.e. to persuade the ruler of the day to put into effect the moral and institutional principles that had been handed down from the sages of old. Dong's teachings deeply influenced generations of Han thinkers. His understanding of the world as an interactive cosmos eventually permeated most of Chinese society, and became a fundamental element of the general Chinese worldview. But also, his utopian vision of a harmonious union of cosmos and polity inspired other Han officials to produce "revealed" texts wherein Heaven warned that it might withdraw its mandate from the Han. Such ideas inspired not only rebel political movements (which eventually toppled the Han), but also new religious movements, some of which eventually flowed into the Taoist tradition. Further Reading Fung, Yu-lan. A History of Chinese Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1953. Though dated, volume 2 contains the most extensive introduction to Dong's thought available in English, including substantial extracts from his writings. Hsiao, Kung-chuan. A History of Chinese Political Thought. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1979. Includes a briefer but slightly more critical introduction. Loewe, Michael. "Imperial Sovereignty: Dong Zhongshu's Contribution and his Predeces sors," in S. R. Schram, ed., Foundations and Limits of State Power in China. London: School of Oriental and African Studies, 1987. A critical assessment by a leading Han historian. Russell Kirkland {Quotations from Dong Zhongshu are taken from Fung Yu-lan.}
Knowledge Graph
Examples
1 We can realize its religiousness through significance of the sacrifice explained by Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
2 Adapting the demand of feudal unification, Dong Zhongshu constructed a series of politics and philosophical system through the form of human and nature induction by the fruit of natural science.
3 The reason of transmutation is not only the objective condition of political unity, but also the result of self choice of Confucian scholars head by Dong Zhongshu.
4 The reason of transmutation is not only the objective condition of political unity, but also the result of self choice of Confucian scholars head by Dong Zhongshu.
5 Adapting the demand of feudal unification, Dong Zhongshu constructed a series of politics and philosophical system through the form of human and nature induction by the fruit of natural science.
6 The reason of transmutation is not only the objective condition of political unity, but also the result of self choice of Confucian scholars head by Dong Zhongshu.
7 We can realize its religiousness through significance of the sacrifice explained by Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
8 We can realize its religiousness through significance of the sacrifice explained by Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
9 Adapting the demand of feudal unification, Dong Zhongshu constructed a series of politics and philosophical system through the form of human and nature induction by the fruit of natural science.
10 We can realize its religiousness through significance of the sacrifice explained by Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
11 The reason of transmutation is not only the objective condition of political unity, but also the result of self choice of Confucian scholars head by Dong Zhongshu.
12 Adapting the demand of feudal unification, Dong Zhongshu constructed a series of politics and philosophical system through the form of human and nature induction by the fruit of natural science.
13 The reason of transmutation is not only the objective condition of political unity, but also the result of self choice of Confucian scholars head by Dong Zhongshu.
14 We can realize its religiousness through significance of the sacrifice explained by Confucian Dong Zhongshu.
15 Adapting the demand of feudal unification, Dong Zhongshu constructed a series of politics and philosophical system through the form of human and nature induction by the fruit of natural science.